This year’s assessment results had
76 per cent of Grade 9 students meeting the provincial standard in academic
math, while 74 per cent did so in the OSSLT testing. These scores are up from
75 and 73 per cent respectively in 2015-2016, the last year the tests were administered.

“It’s always wonderful to see that our students are
improving year-over-year,” said Stephen Sliwa, Director of Education, “While we
are making progress, we also understand that many of our students continue to
work towards meeting the provincial standard in their learning. We are
committed to further supporting our schools to ensure that our students develop
confidence and clarity as learners when engaging the provincial curriculum in
their classrooms.”

Staff across the UCDSB are working diligently to improve in
many areas in both primary and secondary education. Student scores across the
UCDSB in the Grade 3 reading, writing, and math assessments were 67, 70, and
52, respectively. In the Grade 6 reading, writing, and math assessments,
results were 77, 74, and 39, respectively.

·Building teachers’
knowledge of effective assessment practices and content, based on the Ontario
Curriculum expectations, so instruction will help students gain a better understanding
of curriculum requirements,

·Supporting a
variety of teaching strategies in all classrooms to meet the learning needs of
all students,

·Creating learning
environments in schools designed to help students develop their skills as
readers, writers, and problem solvers, and

·Developing
relevant and engaging learning tasks for students.

The Board’s improvement plan sets out a number of strategies
to help students succeed. These strategies, in addition to each individual
school’s School Improvement Plan for Student Achievement (SIPSA), will continue
to be used and updated to help our students in all schools develop the skills
they need to succeed.

The UCDSB will further
analyze this data, and from this year’s and previous years’ results, similar to
the province as a whole. Not unlike all school districts in the province, board
staff will be examining teaching and learning in mathematics, recognizing that
this is a particular priority – locally and provincially – for students from
kindergarten to grade 12.

“Our Board’s number one goal is preparing all students for a
successful life,” said Chair Jeff McMillan. “While there are certainly areas
for improvement, we are firmly committed to serving our students in their
learning and enabling our schools to be the very best they can be. We will
continue to work towards these essential goals, recognizing that we are all
making long-term investments in children’s lives.”